Forensics watch

Seeing as I have this degree I never use (and by the looks of things, I’ll probably never actually work in a forensic lab proper) it seems a good idea to keep a note of the latest news and deals regarding the fictional side of it. Because it seems the saturation point has yet to be reached. Hmm. Maybe there will still be a bandwagon to jump on by the time I get interested in actually writing something based on my own experiences.

But I digress. First let’s begin with a new deal posted at the venerable Publisher’s Marketplace:

Forensic anthropologist Thomas Holland’s M.I.A. and K.I.A., the first two novels in a suspense series, to David Rosenthal and Mary Sue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, by Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).

Now, the premise and the author’s cred is all well and good, but I would think the title style’s going to have to change by book three (R.I.A? A.I.A*, just to be cute?)

Then there’s Elizabeth Becka, a working trace evidence specialist whose debut this August looks to be the hot forensic novel of the year– at least by the way her publisher, Hyperion, presents the jacket copy. The blurb’s below:

It’s a cold Cleveland November day when forensic trace evidence expert Evelyn James is summoned to the scene of a bizarre crime. A young woman has been forcibly drowned, her feet chained and sunk in cement. When a second young victim is connected to a prominent family, all hell breaks loose, and the police — and Evelyn — are up against it to find the murderer. Evelyn just wants to get the job done, but is pulled into a web of conflicting loyalties, unexpected relationships, and professional betrayal. When Evelyn suspects that her own teenage daughter has become a pawn in the killer’s plans, she must remain true to herself and her skills and follow the evidence to the murderer’s door.

Of course, I’ve had my eye on this book as soon as the deal was announced. I’m hopeful for many reasons, but most of all because Becka actually uploaded a picture of her real office in Cape Coral, FL (click on "day job" at her website and see for yourselves. No link b/c the site is Flash-based.) Take that, CSI!